An increase in oxygen uptake has been previously described in plant cell suspensions treated with bacteria or bacterial elicitors. These studies, regarding oxygen uptake, have all been undertaken from the perspective of the host plant cell reactirlg to the invading pathogen. In contrast, here we describe and characterize an increase in oxygen uptake by bacterial cells in response to plant suspensions or autoclaved plant cell filtrates. Autoclaved plant cell filtrates stimulated bacterial oxygen uptake by as much as sevenfold within a few minutes after addition. This oxygen uptake response was proportiorlal to both the concentration of the plant cell filtrate and the concentration of the bacteria. KCN inhibited the bacterial response, suggesting that bacterial respiratiorl may be involved. Unlike the plant oxygen uptake response to bacteria, there was no concurrent H 2 0 2 accumulation and the NADPH oxidase inhibitor, DPI, had no effect on the bacterial response. Streptomycin, an inhibitor of bacterial protein synthesis, irlllibited the bacterial oxygen uptake response to the plant cell filtrate. K-252, a protein kinase inhibitor that strongly irlhibits the plant oxygen uptake response to bacteria, had no eEect upor1 the hacterial oxygen uptake response. IVhen potatolbacterial cell suspensions were pretreated with either streptomycin or K-252, the combined plantlbacterial oxygen uptake response was inhibited by 15 or 70 %, respectively. This indicates that as much as 15-30 % of the increased oxygen consumption during plant suspension cell/bacteria interactions may be attributable to bacteria, which comprise less than 1 % of the total cell mass.